Team led by Jen reports dopaminylation

Jennifer Chan and colleagues reported on May 20 that dopamine can leave a covalent mark on histones in the maternal brain, extending evidence for dopaminylation from earlier addiction work into pregnancy and parenthood research. The study, published in Nature, examined mice and human tissue and said reproductive experience altered dopamine dynamics in the dorsal hippocampal formation. (nature.com) The authors wrote that those changes caused dopamine-dependent chromatin remodeling and persistent shifts in gene expression. A separate Nature research briefing published the same day described the findings as long-lasting molecular changes associated with motherhood. (nature.com) ### What exactly did the team report? The Nature paper said “parity alters H3 dopaminylation in mice and humans,” identifying a dopamine-linked histone modification in maternal brain tissue. The work focused on histone H3 dopaminylation, a form of monoaminylation in which dopamine is covalently attached to a protein residue rather than acting only as a synaptic messenger. Ian Maze’s lab at Mount Sinai has been central to that line of research. A 2020 Science paper from Maze and colleagues reported histone H3 glutamine 5 dopaminylation in the ventral tegmental area and linked it to cocaine-related transcriptional programs, establishing dopaminylation as an epigenetic mark in brain. (nature.com) ### Why is dopaminylation a distinct finding from ordinary dopamine signaling? Dopamine is usually described as a neurotransmitter that helps neurons communicate across synapses. Dopaminylation refers instead to dopamine becoming chemically attached to proteins, creating a post-translational modification that can change how those proteins function. (nature.com) The 2026 Nature study placed that chemistry in a maternal-brain context. The paper’s summary said brain-wide transcriptomic profiling in mice showed reproductive experience remodeled the maternal brain by altering dopamine dynamics in the dorsal hippocampal formation, which then drove dopamine-dependent changes in chromatin and gene expression. (science.org) ### Why are mice and humans both in this paper? The paper said the modification was seen in both mice and humans, which matters because many mechanistic brain studies stop at mouse data. Nature’s summary highlighted cross-species evidence by stating that parity altered H3 dopaminylation in mice and humans. (brainfacts.org) Nature’s accompanying research briefing said motherhood in mice induces transcriptional brain changes that persist beyond short-term hormonal shifts, and that postpartum stress can disrupt those patterns. That briefing framed the paper as evidence of enduring molecular “memories” in the maternal brain. (nature.com) ### Who is “Jen” in the reporting around the paper? Jennifer Chan appears to be the “Jen” referenced in social-media congratulations tied to the paper. Mount Sinai previously identified Chan as a postdoctoral researcher in the Maze lab whose work focuses on epigenetic regulation in the maternal brain. (nature.com) A May 20 post from the Maze lab congratulated “Jen” and collaborators on the paper, according to the social briefing supplied with this story. That post matched the timing of the Nature publication. (nature.com) ### How does this fit with earlier monoaminylation research? Nature Reviews and Trends articles over the past two years have described dopaminylation, serotonylation and histaminylation as part of a broader class of TG2-mediated histone monoaminylation marks. Those papers said the modifications can alter chromatin state and transcription in brain and other tissues. (health.mountsinai.org) The newer paper extends that framework into reproductive neuroscience. The next source documents are the Nature article itself and its supplementary materials, both published on May 20, 2026, with Chan, Maze and collaborators listed on the study record. (nature.com) (cell.com)